Only a Ways To Go
by OROgoldenpair1
Summary: Why is she different?And what can she even do to change a thing? Zeth Machiroha,a freshman girl at Seigaku, is a socially awkward, self scrutinizing girl who faces problems with her weight, race,and past. She must overcome them, and the people around her just might make that happen.The problem is,her open resentment against tennis players is no joke- and the question is why. TezuOC


Hey y'all! OROgoldenpair1 with _another_ revision of chapter 1…I know. Es mucho. Pero, es necesario. (A little espanol I've been learning ;) Enjoy the capitula! PS: I don't own Prince of Tennis) You guys, I've decided to delete chapters 2-4 for now. I want to revise all of them before posting them again, since this new chapter 1 is a little different than the older one. Thank you for your patience.

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><p>My lungs were burning from lack of oxygen; my teeth were grit in place. My thrown fist became fixed on the side of his face, and sweat streamed down my face in pools—my eyes burning with passion. He lurched backwards and fell, grunting from the shock, as his glasses fell towards the ground and shattered. I could not mutter explanations or reasons. An immediate burning hot intensity gathered in my stomach as I saw blood drip from his mouth—it was satisfaction. My mind was muddled. I felt good, yet it's like I couldn't remember a thing—where I was, who he was, who <em>I <em>was. Soon, I heard numerous feet from the tennis courts thunder our way on the concrete. I didn't care who saw me, and I continued to stand there as I watched the rest of the regulars show up and look in shock. "What in the world happened here…? What did you do?" They asked me. I clenched my fist. "I don't know, ask _him_." I replied calmly.

-4 months ago-

My eyes squinted open to the source of an annoying clamor, and I sat up in my bed and wiped the drool off of my face. "Baka, wake up already, would you?!" My sister's screeching, banshee-sounding voice sliced through the air, sliced through my dream like scissors to paper. I moaned groggily and reached for my temples; I had not meant to drift to sleep on the cold, hard and black surface that was the lid of my laptop. She busted open my door and had stepped into my fortress (my 'crypt' as she liked to call it) otherwise known as the clothing disaster that was my room. Just a normal morning—my sister yelling her head off to get me awake, the sun shining too much in my face, and in response, my reluctance. Who wants to go to school, anyway? "Outta bed already, it's time for school," She said, her strict and stoic look once again gracing her face, as it has since the day I was conceived. "Hai, Hai," I answered in a groggy voice, groaning as I slumped and made my way to the showers where the light in the house was the brightest, making me rub my eyes. Surprisingly, I did not stumble and fall over my own things. That was how my day usually started—unpleasant.

I turned off the shower and the water slushed shut as I stepped out. I wrapped my towel around me and fastened it at the top, gazing at my reflection. Parting my poofy black hair into sections, I sighed. My appearance alone was a reason not to go to school. I was still the same height. I still was chubby, with thighs that still continued to rub together from my very youth. Same face with two plump cheeks, and dark chocolate skin, with eyes like the night. It was all the same. Still the same.

Grabbing some toast, I greeted my sister goodbye as I left the house, and I shivered: the morning was cold, and I didn't bother to wear a sweater. I stopped walking at a stoplight, when all of a sudden my vision went black. Realizing that two hands were covering my face, I clawed at them until—"Ow, Zeth! Why'd you do that for?" I twisted myself around quickly and smiled at the "offender", who was trying to sooth his hands after being scratched. "You aught to not have scared me like that, Yuuta. What're you doing here, anyway?" I asked, not minding that the walking light was green. He adjusted the cap on his head, pouted, and crossed his arms. _He's wearing his school uniform… he aught to be at St. Rudolph right now._ "There's nothing wrong with me seeing my lovely nee-san, is there? Besides… I cross paths with this street every day to get to school, I figured I might as well surprise you." He grinned. "Aw, isn't that sweet… if you try that stunt again, my foot is going somewhere you don't want." I replied, a similar grin on my face. He shuddered—as I expected he would. "Well anyway," He said, gripping his book bag firmly, "greet my other nee-san for me. I have to be on my way." "Ah, ok. Too afraid to tell my sister yourself because she scares you… I understand. Bye." I smirked. He sweat dropped, patted my poofs, and jogged away. Shaking my head, I finally crossed the road.

My Seishun Gakuen experiences during weekdays were never fun. As always, I felt a gloomy feeling when entering the large school gates. Unsurprisingly, people stopped, stared, and whispered to their friends while glancing at me as I walked. Not the most heartwarming feeling in the world…I made my way on campus to a nice tree in the garden, where I usually spent my mornings before the bell rang for 1st period. As I admired the sakura tree, a group of girls were coming in my direction. "Yah! I am so excited for the school's "Catch the photo" event this week. It's gonna be awesome, Youko." One girl said to another. My ears perked up—_what "Catch The Photo" event?_ I thought. "That's right. I can't wait to see what secret shots people take and post to the school's bulletin board." A different girl answered. One girl seemed to be like me, who didn't know what in the world they were talking about.

"You guys, what _is_ the "Catch The Photo" event?" She asked. "You didn't know? Every year the school has a "Catch The Photo". It's a whole week when students can take secret photos, especially _embarrassing_ ones, of each other and teachers, and put it on the bulletin inside the main building. It's just for fun really, but people _can_ use it to harm others on purpose…" "Ooh, that sounds like fun. We should target some people!" The girls snickered and continued chattering and planning, passing me by. My eyebrow raised—that meant I had to be on the lookout, because I was always a target for _something_.

It was 5th period, the class right before lunch. After lunch, there were 2 more. I was ready to get _out_ of there. Then again, I wasn't paying much attention in the first place for the teacher to annoy me. After I realized this, sitting in my desk that was near the back of the classroom where the windows were, I continued to pretend that my mind was on the scenery. And suddenly I got dragged back into focus. "-roha! Oi, Machiroha!" _Uh-oh. Sensei…_She stomped up to my desk, drawing every eye from around the classroom. "Once again, must I snap you out of it? Now, darling, tell me the definition of this art stroke." And there she went, back to her desk. I sighed, ignored the meaningless snickers from my wonderful classmates, and answered. Of course, I should tell you that pretending not to care was my greatest façade…

Packing up my materials into my briefcase, I was minding my business when two guys decided to push past me to get to their friends. "Move it, Afro!" They said while laughing, and other people joined in on laughing at me. My temple twitched and my fist clenched, but I decided to let it go. _Eh, whatever, Zeth. It's food time—the most important thing about this school._ I assured myself. Food was the one thing I never minded about my school day. The class I was just leaving was one of my extracurricular classes—it happened to be on the fourth floor, where the seniors' classes were. I never really liked that aspect, because frequently when leaving the class I'd start feeling so small in comparison to them—and a great amount of them were tall. Stalling around here automatically meant rowdiness, shoving, and profanity. Several rushes of students went down the big stairs that immediately connected to the third level, where the cafeteria was, and I squeezed myself in to be led by the current of people.

That was usually the mode of transportation around campus—let a crowd of people push you where you needed to go. Suddenly, my balance was thrown, and I sprang forward at the backs of people ahead of me, crashing violently into them. I couldn't even apologize— I bumped and smacked down the steps, landing in a heap of pain at the bottom. "Che." I could only mutter—tears gathered in my eyes as I held my knee up to my chest. "Sheesh," I grunted, because it was going to get a lot worse as I realized that the next set of people coming down the stairs were like a raging sea—and they were not going to stop or step to the side. Preparing for the worst, I closed shut my eyes.

Meanwhile~

Two girls on one of the 3rd floor's hallways watched Zeth Machiroha falling down to the bottom of the steps. The watched her writhe, but they could only snicker and pull out their cameras from their purses. "Definitely going on the bulletin, right? This is too good." The one with long hair sneered. They took pictures, quite content, and Long Hair stood up from her crouch to walk away. "Wait." The one with short hair held Long Hair's wrist. They peeked from behind the wall, and proceeded to jaw-drop. A senior, the guessed, quickly went down the stairs and moved Zeth away in the nick of time right before the oncoming rush of hungry students. His back was turned to them so they could not see who he was—but as soon as he stood tall, their jaws hit the floor. Snatching up their phones, hurried to text.

Zeth's POV~

I knew what it felt like to be trampled over, and I did not want to go through that again. The sound of feet came closer and closer, until two arms helped me up and I was soon at the opposite side of the traffic, the side of the stairs where students were supposed to walk upwards. I didn't know how, but I rested on the second to bottom step. Holding my head with one hand and my knee with another tightly, I looked up wearily. "Arigatou, sempai…" I muttered. He stood up, glaring at the opposite side of still rushing students. He turned back to my direction. "Ah. You look injured…the nurse is still in her office." He said, scanning me over with his glasses. "Nurse? I don't think I'm hurt _that _badly…" I muttered, in an attempt to still go to lunch. I attempted to stand but I failed miserably as I slid back down the wall. "Ouch…" I groaned. I watched him retrieve my briefcase. "Since you don't look like you can walk, I will take you there." He said. I now noticed the quite stoic look on his face—I recognized it quickly because my sister would often flash me that face at home. I got flustered when I processed his words in my head. "Alright." I agreed. He was so tall that I didn't know how he was going to slouch and bring an arm around me on one side while I bring my arm over his neck, but it somehow worked.

Meanwhile~ 

_Click-click_. The two girls snapped shot after shot from behind the corner of the unbelievable thing witnessed. The most popular guy at school… trudging along with the unpopular. They sent new texts to their friends. "Wait till _she_ hears about this… She's _not_ going to be happy." Short Hair said, and the two shivered at the image of their posse's leader getting angry. "But, this sure is juicy… We'll make sure to ruin Machiroha with these pictures," Long Hair smirked. Short Hair grinned.

Zeth's POV~

My uneasiness… I didn't know where it came from, but I was soon to find out. "What happened?" He questioned stoically, his glasses glinting. "I don't know. I could've promised I felt a shove to my back." I answered. An awkward silence reigned. "Ano… you _are _a sempai… right?" I asked as we walked through and around the many wide hallways towards the nurse's office. I inspected him more now that he was close. _This guy must have a fan-girl base at this school…_ I confirmed, because of his looks. " Only if you're a freshman or junior, which I'm guessing you are, so you are correct. Ore wa namae wa Tezuka Kunimitsu desu. I go by Tezuka." He answered. "Oh… Yoroshiku." I replied. _Wait… it couldn't be_. "Are you the captain of the boys' tennis team?" I asked with hesitance. "Ah." He answered. I smacked myself inwardly. _How did I not figure this out? … More importantly, why should I even be near this guy? _My conscience replied me back. _ He did after all save me. Oh yeah…_ I sweat dropped. "My name's Machiroha Zeth." I muttered, not really thinking that he'd care anyway.

Arriving at the office, the nurse jumped when the door slid open. "Machiroha-chan?" "Hai… it's me. Again…"I sighed exasperatedly. "You look injured… I'm afraid to ask what happened. Tezuka-kun, that'll be enough, I will take care of her." She stated, carefully leading me to a bed where I laid down. _Wow, everyone knows this kid, huh?_ I wondered as Tezuka bowed and left. "Ma, ma. Let's hear the story, Machiroha-chan." The middle-aged nurse asked, examining the bruise on my leg. She gave me the usual knowing smile.

I barely made it back to the last period of the day. On a borrowed set of crutches, of which I had learned to use throughout _all_ of my… episodes at this school, as you might call them, I tapped on the door. The door slid open, and I expected an immediate reprimand by the teacher. When I didn't hear anything, I looked up to see that it wasn't Sensei who opened the door. It was Kaidoh Kaoru. "Can I enter now?" I asked, more ruthlessly than I wanted. The bandana-kid stepped aside and scowled.

My last period of the day, 7th, was a combined reading class with 7th graders and 8th graders. Why I had to be in the same class as Kaidoh, I don't know. I knew that he was quite a silent person, but I've seen when people would get on his nerves. Trust me, it never was a pretty scene. Not that it mattered to me anyways. He was still one of _them_, and I could never understand why he of all people would have a fangirl club as well. The class wasn't exactly the strictest—as evidenced by the paper planes, bundles of trash, and sleeping students. I hopped to the teacher's desk, ready to belt out my explanation for being so late to class.

"Oh, Machiroha-san. No worries—I already received an email from the Nurse about your condition. You can take a seat." When he said this, I breathed a sigh in relief. "What did I miss, Sensei?" I asked. "We already finished reading the next part of _Macbeth_, and we were supposed to take a mini-quiz at the end of the period. _Supposed to_, anyway, but I'll save it for next class. Ooh, that reminds me." He said, quickly standing to address the class. I quickly hopped to an empty seat, glad that barely anyone noticed my entry. "Next class students, listen up! Oi! Next class, we're going to take a mini-quiz on what we read this class, and continue reading the play. In a few weeks, we will be reenacting the play." As soon as Sensei said this, many groans erupted. "Guys, that's not even the best part. Everything must be in English." And to that, a 1000x more groans erupted. "But Sensei! How are we going to actually pull it off?" Someone asked, and many voiced agreement. "The details will be revealed over the following classes. And with that, class is dismissed." He finished. Right on cue, the bell finally rang, and people were allowed to go home. _Whew, at least I get to read the missed part of the play at home, without distractions._ I thought as I waited for everyone to leave before I hopped out.

Drifting slowly under the hot sun, I walked out of the building and towards the front gates of the school where all the students were wildly filing out from, when I heard the sound of balls. It was a familiar sound. Surface against surface. The constant thwap ringing through the deserted field surrounding the school. I turned around. I slowly followed the source of the sound, its constant ringing getting louder and louder with every few steps. I turned past a tree and stopped in my tracks. Then, hesitantly, I slowly approached the green wide gates. _Tennis courts?_ I pressed my hand on the fence, fingering its simple diamond design. The sun blared in my eyes as I looked into the courts. _I should not be here._ I reminded myself—but I couldn't turn away. A match was taking place between two regulars—and suddenly, I recognized one as Tezuka. His playing style, composed movements, and will dominated the game. "Tezuka Kunimitsu, 6 games to 1!" With the announcement of the score, the two broke the friendly glares they set on each other and shook hands. I quickly turned around and went as fast as my crutches could take me back to the gates. _I guess he's as good as everyone says he is._ I mildly thought, glancing back at the school before making my way home.


End file.
